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Preliminary results show Portland will have a clean energy community benefits fund through a 1 percent retail gross receipts tax for large corporations.

The City of Portland will have a Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund if preliminary results hold up.

The Wednesday morning tally was 64.5 percent for and 35.5 percent against with 269,216 votes counted.

At the yes campaign party in Northeast Portland Tuesday night, a spokeswoman for the campaign said the result reflects a broad progressive movement in the city.

"I'm ecstatic," said Khanh Pham, manager of immigrant organizing at Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon. "If we win, I think it's a huge step forward for Portland and it shows that there is another way. It shows that there is a new progressive majority that wants a clean energy future that leaves no one behind."

In a statement from the no campaign, Keep Portland Affordable, the head of the Portland Business Alliance struck a measured tone.

"While we remain seriously concerned with the impact this gross receipts tax will have on Portlanders who can least afford it, we stand in agreement with proponents of this measure that much more must be done to lessen the impacts of climate change to those most affected," said Andrew Hoan, president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance. "We look forward to finding ways we may all work together for our future."

The passage of the measure would mean that Portland will fuel a new fund directed by a new Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund Committee. The Portland City Council — who looks to be gaining Jo Ann Hardesty as a new member tonight — would decide who serves on that committee.

The measure was sold to voters as a fund split between clean energy projects, clean energy jobs training and future innovation projects. If it works, say supporters, it could be a model for the rest of the nation.

"Now is when the real work begins," said Jenny Lee, advocacy director at Coalition of Communities of Color, a campaign supporter. "I do think it's going to be a model (in the rest of the country). It's going to be up to local, on-the-ground organizing to come up with our climate future."

The 1 percent tax on $1 billion-plus corporations who do more than $500,000 in retail sales within the city could have a larger impact than supporters expect, though. Yes campaign materials said the measure would raise $30 million. A study funded by the no campaign said it would actually cost up to $79 million.

Tony DeFalco — executive director of the nonprofit Verde, a major campaign supporter — said other municipalities are watching to see how this idea plays out in Portland.

"I think a lot of folks are watching us to see what happens," DeFalco said, counting among the prominent supporters CNN news commentator Van Jones, Oregon U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben.

Pham added that she had heard from people in Southeast Asia who were interested in the model.

"I think there's tremendous impact, not just around the country, but around the world," she said of the vote.

The Portland coalition built through the initiative petition and campaign will continue to work together on progressive, multiracial goals, Pham said. She pointed to two restaurateurs who said they were duped by the no campaign and switched sides.